Blake's 7 and Star Trek

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Blake's 7 is a space opera that strongly references Star Trek in that B7's main antagonists are called 'the Federation' and bear a symbol that is obviously a rotated version of the Star Fleet insignia. Blake's 7 also uses teleport technology, made popular by Trek.

Other fans have also commented on the similarities and differences, for example Doctor Who blog, The Greys.[1]

Blake's 7 began during the period after the original Star Trek and before the first Star Trek movie; hence its fandom participated in the normalization of many common fannish practices of today, for example the social history of slash and print zines. Like most pre-web fandoms, early B7 fanfic was sharply divided into slash, explicit het (referred to in contemporary zines as "adult"), and gen.

Similar Relationships and Divides

A Comparison

In 1994, a Lysator member re-posted the following tongue in cheek comparison of the two shows.

Star Trek Blake's 7
1. The triumph of morality. 1. The triumph of amorality
2. The Federation is good. 2. The Federation is evil
3. The Federation is an instrument of democracy and free speech. 3. The Federation is a fascist military dictatorship
4. Everyone on the ship gets along. 4. Don't turn your back
5. Reliable friends. 5. Betrayal
6. Goal:"to explore strange new worlds & civilizations", assist colonies and promote growth. 6. Goal: to survive, destroy the Federation and make a fast buck whenever possible.
7. The basic crew don't die; in fact, they come back from the dead 7. The basic crew dies, disappears and finds better things to do.
8. The Captain has a receding hairline or no hair. 8. The Captain has a perm
9. The heroes chase things. 9. The heroes are chased
10.Electric shavers that can stun. 10.Cattle prods that kill
11.A new planet in every episode. 11.A new plot in every episode
12.Special effects. 12.
13.When nothing else works, the Captain will try deception. 13.When nothing else works, the Captain will try a little truth.
14.Disposable extras. 14.Disposable regulars
15.The Boy Scout mentality. 15.Niccolò Machiavelli
16.Occasional sarcasm. 16.Occasional straight dialogue
17.Stand by your friends. 17.Stand behind your friends
18.Love will save the day. 18.Love[equals]carelessness[equals]death
19.Choosing between good and evil. 19.Choosing the lesser of two evils
20.Mind-meld. 20.Telepathy
21.Transporters are commonplace. 21.Transporters are amazing
22.Helpless females. 22.Ball-busting females
23.An alien crew member. 23.An alien crew member
24.Computer personality problems. 24.Computer personality problems
25.Justifying pacifism. 25.Justifying your right to live[2]

Some 1993 Comments

I've been a Trek fan all my life, and always loved the slashy stories and episodes. This said, I confess that as soon as I found out about B7 slash I was lost to it.

I prefer B7 to ST because the show is a hundred times (or more) complex than ST. There is a lot more to think about: the serial story line with character development being very clear gives you more character psychology to sort out, and their peculiar personalities provide a lot more breadth for the decoding of motivations. Unlike in ST, where you know everyone is everyone's best friend (unless you resort to Mirror worlds for some tension between the characters), in B7 you have to constantly worry about whether Avon will support Blake's new plan, what hurtful things he will say to get Blake to notice him, how Avon will manage to insult Vila next, etc.(the dialogue is brilliant in places, just watch Sue's signatures for a taste). Since the tone of the show is not exactly happy-go-lucky, with no feel-good happy endings, along the road there are character deaths to cope with (and no one comes back from the dead except in fanfic) and betrayals by "friends" (e.g., Orbit).

The fanfic has to reflect the darker flavor of the B7 universe if it is any good, of course, but that doesn't mean it all has to be nasty and "rough" in the slash department. There are many good slash stories that aren't torture/rape/humiliation centered. The thing that keeps it all kicking is that there are a lot of personal "barriers" between characters to be surmounted for the sex to happen; 'trust' is a major issue for the characters on TV, and that shows up in their sex scenes (well, for A/B anyhow, I can't speak for this perverse A/V stuff :-).

I don't find the serial story line in the ST movies very satisfying (when they got fat and crotchety I started to disbelieve it all), and the barriers are non-human ones involving Vulcan logic, rather than human ones involving distrust and disagreements. I prefer the human barriers for my source of conflict. Trite though it sounds, I really feel like I learn something about human relationships when I read a well-done B7 story with emotional angst in it. Maybe other fen who move to B7 have this reaction too, and aren't just looking for rough sex.

I've heard B7 called the "British version of ST," which makes me laugh a lot. People insist on comparing them, for some reason. (A few years ago, in an East Coast con, B7 was presented that way. After a few eps, people were baffled: they looked at each other and said, "Are these guys supposed to be good guys or bad guys?" Hah. That sort of black and

white thinking is what I dislike in ST.) [3]

References

  1. ^ "Star Trek vs Blake's 7". Archived from the original on 2021-06-16.
  2. ^ Courtesy of Westrek 'Constellation", April 1994 issue by Russell B. Farr.
  3. ^ from Virgule-L, quoted anonymously with permission (June 21, 1993)
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